I thought now might be a good time to tell you a little more about why I started BeyondIBD.com and what I will be talking about in the coming months.

What’s it all about?

The About page gives an overview of the type of information I want to cover. Some of these topic areas, such as treatment and research, are already widely canvassed on other websites and news services. I hope to build an index to these resources on Beyond IBD, and also comment on particularly interesting articles from time to time.

There are a good number of informational guides on issues such as diet and exercise, particularly on the websites of Crohn’s and Colitis Associations in various countries. I hope to gather and distill the most widely accepted recommendations and discuss how these can be implemented in our daily life.

I also want go beyond a discussion of physical well-being, to encompass life strategies which improve emotional and mental well-being, strategies which help us:

• simplify our lives;
• reduce stress;
• be more productive;
• identify and realise goals and priorities; and
• develop self-nurturing habits.

These include the tips and tricks now popularly referred to as ‘life hacks’. Once specifically applied to technology-based solutions, the term is now used more widely to describe helpful and clever shortcuts (using computers or not) which improve efficiency and make life easier.

Strategies for living better

The value of such strategies is not limited to those with IBD; they can assist anyone to achieve clarity, calm and balance in their life. But they are particularly useful to those with IBD, as we commonly experience feelings of loss, uncertainty, desperation, depression, guilt and hopelessness.

I believe that the best of these strategies can help us accept the challenges of IBD and create happiness and satisfaction for ourselves each day.

Until a cure is found for IBD, it will be a part of our lives and it will impact on us, one way or another, everyday. But we do not have to be defined by our IBD.

I’m no expert!

In a self-effacing and very funny podcast called The Perfect Apostrophe, Merlin Mann (creator of the popular 43folders website which is all about “personal productivity, life hacks, and simple ways to make your life a little better”) proves that he doesn’t promote personal productivity tips because he is good at it, but because he is really, really bad at it.

Same here. I don’t have the answers and I don’t manage my IBD or my life perfectly everyday. But each day I try to live a little better, learn something new, and be happy with my progress. I am always looking for ideas that inform, comfort and inspire me, and through BeyondIBD.com I hope to share these with you.